Friendship
by DragonGamer0713
Summary: Rule Four in the Rules of Love series. Rookie team, DRGN, take on a huge monster that attacks Team RWBY. Both teams must take it down before it does major damage to the forest and to themselves. RubyXOC, OCXOC. Rated T for violence and peril.


Friendship

A giant creature roared at the four figures armed to the teeth with their signature weapons. It had large claws, torn and withered feathered wings, and looked like a menacing wolf-hawk hybrid like beast. Its white eyes narrowed at the four figures as it got ready to charge.

"Jesus, it needs to find little red riding hood and eat the grandma before she gets back," one of them retorted to ease the sharp and thick tension in the air.

"Not funny," the one next to him muttered.

"Rikki," the leader barked for his attention, "What do you know about this thing?"

Said Rikki narrowed his eyes into slits, glowing deep maroon as he scanned the beast. Within seconds, a glowing white spot was visible, indicating its weakness. "I have no idea what it is, Damien, but I do know its weak spot is between the wings!"

"Well, what are we waiting for!" the only female announced as she released her weapon, a plasma-bladed dragon shuriken, ready to send it flying.

"Wait, Nikki!" barked Damien again, thrusting his arm out to halt any advance on it. His tail curled up a little as his sense of smell picked up on something. His eyes widened and he yelled, "Jump back!"

His team obeyed and literally five seconds later, the area of grass they were previously standing on was scorched to the dirt with deadly fire. "Nice catch, Damien. That sniffer of yours comes in handy," Rikki commented as the team stared at the burning earth before them.

The creature roared again, its saliva throwing through the air and a little landed on Nikki's left arm. She yelped, feeling insane heat from the substance on her armor. "Shit! I'm hit!"

Damien gasped a little. "Its roar will release self-igniting gasoline from its saliva. Rikki, use your whip to seal its snout! Growlo, protect Nikki! I've got this bastard."

The silent teammate nodded and back flipped back to keep Nikki covered as he examined the damage. Rikki and Damien rushed forward towards the monster and as it inhaled to release another wave of gasoline, Rikki clicked his tongue, "Not today, you fucker." With a very sharp crack of his chain whip, it wrapped itself around the beast's snout, disabling it from roaring. With a smirk, Rikki pressed a button on the hilt of the chain, igniting the explosive charges on the end of the chain, causing it to shriek and thrash in pain, stomping on the grassy floor with its long talons.

Damien rushed from the side and leaped up to get on its back. Sadly, it saw what Damien was trying to do and its wing very quickly thrusted hard into the faunus' chest, sending him flying backwards. However, he quickly recovered, using the light-enabled wings created by his semblance. With a couple violet coughs, he hovered in midair for a moment to gain his bearings, seeing how to destroy it.

Growlo looked at Nikki's arm and asked, "Does it burn?"

"My armor took the blunt of it. I can still fight!" she grinned, her eyes sparking for a battle. However, her left arm tensed up and her grin quickly turned into gritted teeth and grimace.

"Stay," Growlo bluntly commanded, leaving no room for arguments or debates. He pulled out his hooks and twirled them out to the dagger sides, taking aim for the beast's eyes. With a tiny smirk, he fired, a thin, but powerful bolt of plasma-like laser shot out of the dagger, hitting its mark with unmatched accuracy.

The negative side effect to Growlo's attack was that the beast thrashed its head blindly with an agonizing shriek. Rikki, who was holding his whip tightly and struggling to keep it steady, was launched into the air, letting go of his weapon in the process.

Damien quickly caught Rikki's out-stretched hand, his light wings straining a little from the weight. "Are you ok?"

"I'd do it again if it wasn't going to kill me," he joked to express his light humor. Looking down at the beast, he frowned, "If we don't put an end to it quickly, it will not only kick our asses, but it'll attack the other teams in the forest."

"You're right." Tossing him into a tree branch, where he landed on squarely, the dragon faunus growled, "And Nikki needs medical attention. We need to do something."

"Hey!" a voice barked from below them. Damien and Rikki looked down, seeing Ruby's beaming face, her steel-grey eyes shiny with adrenaline, "Look like you guys bit off more than you can chew with this beast, huh?"

"Normally, it'd be dead by now!" Rikki retorted with a chuckle, making a mental note that Ruby was right. "Our team is halfed."

"Where's Growls and Nikki?!" she called.

Rikki jumped down from his perch, while Damien hovered down, landing on his feet gracefully. His wings didn't fade away just yet, giving him an angelic like appearance. "Off under the shade of the trees. Nikki got hit by that thing's corrosive spit and forced her to back out of the fight. Growlo is protecting her."

Ruby smirked, "Well, I'll help."

"Correction, little sister," Yang appeared out of nowhere, spooking the two boys a bit. "We'll help."

Up in the tree jumped down Blake, making Rikki leap into Damien's arms like a bad Shaggy-and-Scooby-Doo act. "Hey, Damien."

"Hey Blake." The two faunus' had a sharp connection from the very start. He nodded, "You and I will distract that dammed thing. Ruby, Yang, I want you two to help Rikki weaken it. Blake and I will distract and have it aim its attacks at us."

Rikki chuckled sheepishly as he dropped out of Damien's arms and straightened himself out, "Got it!"

"What about me?" Weiss scoffed as she finally appeared.

Damien looked at her and stated, "Go to Growlo and protect Nikki at all costs."

Ruby raised her hand, "I can do that."

"You sure? We could use your Crescent Rose to do a lot of damage to topple it."

Ruby smiled, "Yeah, don't worry about it. Let me help Growlo assist with Nikki."

Damien nodded, "Very well. Weiss, you're with Yang then."

"Ok then. Let's hope your plan doesn't fall apart."

He growled a little, "It better not. Especially with that attitude."

"Well!" she gasped, clearly offended, "You're usually not a happy ball of sunshine either, Damien!"

Blake muttered, "Dam, she does have a point."

"Ok, ok, I get it. Let's give it our all!" With a mighty roar, Damien rushed forward at the creature, followed very closely by Blake, releasing the bow from her cat ears, her Gambol Shroud at the ready.

Rikki rushed off to the side the long way to avoid getting hit. Yang and Weiss followed his lead, weapons armed and ready to kick some serious ass. He rolled forward to avoid a stomp and grabbed his weapon that was being whipped around with the creature's head thrashing wildly. Pulling back sharply, he grunted, "Rebel two, old boy! You ready!?"

Yang smirked as her Ember Celica took aim for the head, "Get ready for a lot of thrashing!" Punching the air, powerful shotgun shells zoomed through the air and planted themselves into the beast's furry head. Rikki grunted as his boots dug into the dirt, trying to stand his ground. "You ok, Rikki!?"

"It's like trying to control a raging bull! My grip is slipping!"

Weiss quickly released a black glyph to plant Rikki's feet to the ground. "Hold on! Don't let it go!"

"I'm trying! Thanks for the anchor!" he called out, having an easier time than before.

While Rikki held the creature in place with Yang and Weiss assisting, Ruby ran into the shade of the trees, seeing Growlo check over Nikki's arm. "Seriously, Growlo, I'll be ok."

"When we get back, I'll need to repair your armor, while you seek medical attention," he sternly ordered.

Nikki saw Ruby behind Growlo, but she quickly raised her finger to her lips to prevent the wounded girl from announcing her presence. "Ok, ok. Relax, will ya? I've taken worse beatings than this."

"It doesn't matter, Nix!" Growlo barked with concern for his teammate, "We're a team and must protect each other like family!"

"Wow, I need to learn a thing or two from you, Growls~" Ruby finally spoke up with a smirk on her face.

Growlo's eyes widened as he spun around on his heel, seeing the leader of team RWBY behind him. "R-Ruby?! W-When did you get here?" he asked with a slight stammer and a flushed face.

"I've been here for a few moments. Consider me extra security."

"Huh?! Did Dam suggest this?! I need to have a word with him after this mess is over!"

She giggled, "Originally, it was Weiss, but I volunteered."

"Well, I enjoy your company a little better than Weiss', personally," Nikki stated honestly.

"She's getting better though," Ruby pointed out, but then turned to Growlo, "So, what do you need me to do?"

Before Growlo to speak and stammer again, there was a nasty hissing-clicking noise above them. Looking up, the trio gasped, seeing a new creature before them. They had jackal-like snouts and ears, three eyes and the body of a double-jointed cat, almost like a monkey. Looking down at their prey, hideous claw-like wings sprang up from their backs, ready to attack.

"That! On my six!" Growlo barked, his training from an old military man surfaced. Pressing her back to back, his hooks at the ready, he growled, "We have no idea what these things are, so keep your options open on the offense."

"A bit obvious, but yeah." Releasing her overpowered weapon, she smirked as she fired up into the trees, trying to shoot the little bastards down. She only clipped one of them as the other scattered and dropped down on the two of them. "Watch out!"

Growlo quickly linked his hooks together and swung them around like a razor sharp whip, slicing two of them on the spot and injuring two more in the process. The two made a very weird clicking noise and without any rational action, rushed to Ruby, a very sickening look in their eyes, their third eye blinking red and white.

Growlo, thinking fast, gasped and tackled Ruby out of the way, barely missing the kamikaze attack. They howled and exploded into black wispy chucks of charred flesh and bone. The two grunted on the landing, while Nikki stared at it wide-eyed, "What the f—"

Ruby looked at Growlo and blushed a little, seeing the handsome, grey-haired guy on top of her, using his own body as a human shield. "Are you ok?" he asked, spooking her a little.

"Y-Yeah. You?"

He looked behind him and noticed some of his pant leg got a little charred, but nothing too bad. "Yeah, I'm good." Getting off her, he pulled her up with a powerful tug, making her yelp a little when he let go. "These things explode if they get wounded. Aim to kill."

"Got it…but we're now surrounded…" Ruby gulped as the two stood back to back, suddenly surrounded by these creatures.

"Shit…" he growled, releasing his trademark growl as he got his hooks ready.

"GUYS! GET DOWN!" Nikki's voice barked as she wound up Hiryu for a round trip of death. Using her aura to activate the plasma lining on the blades, she threw it with expert precision, aiming for the closest one and at a curve to travel like a boomerang.

Growlo, once again, tackled Ruby down to avoid the plasma flying guillotine. She yelped and saw the deadly circular blade slash and behead the little creatures with literally no trouble or resistance. Their screams and hisses were deafening, but very quickly, the area around them grew quiet.

"How many times are you going to tackle me?" Ruby grunted a little, feeling Growlo's strong frame pressing down on her little body.

Blushing madly, he rolled off her, but stayed low, just in case Hiryu was still slicing through the air before retreating back to Nikki's grasp. The dragon shuriken pulled a twisting U-turn and returned to its wielder's hand. With a exhale, Nikki called out, "It's safe, you two!"

Growlo sat up and then looked at Ruby, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, thanks for the save," she smiled as she sat up and quickly kissed his cheek, "You're an awesome friend and fighter, Growls!"

Nikki covered her mouth to avoid squealing at the very cute moment between them. Growlo turned bright red, his silver eyes wide with shock. "U-U-Uh…thank you."

Ruby giggled at his out-of-character sheepishness and stood up.

"HURRY UP, DAMIEN!" Rikki yelled at his leader, "I'M LOSING MY GRIP!"

Damien leaped into the air and yelled at Blake, "Aim for the space between its wings! That's its weak spot!"

"Got it!" she gave him the thumbs up as she kicked off its back leg and leaped up into the air, landing on the small of its back. Rushing towards the wings, she used her sickles to slash into the soft spot on its body. It yowled in pain and shook its massive body like a dog after a bath, shaking off Blake off its body.

Yang gasped, "Blake!"

Weiss lost her focus for a moment and the glyph she was concentrating on disappeared, sending Rikki flying off into a tree with a painful grunt, his whip going with him. "Ouch…"

Damien growled and made a very quick decision to save his teammates and friends. Breathing life into his gauntlets, they began to cackle with electricity as he flew to its weak spot and with a mighty roar, dove his electrified claws deep into the monster's flesh. It screeched in pain, but luckily, no gasoline saliva from it. "DIE YOU MONSTER!" Damien bellowed as he released a lethal discharge of sparks, sending it straight into the spinal column, making it spaz and jerk around like it's having a seizure. With a loud dying cry, it finally buckled and crashed to the ground, defeated at long last.

Damien, sweaty and hot, released his grip and shook the remaining sparks off his claws, making the dust's effects wear off. Exhausted, his wings evaporated and he crashed into the grass, panting for breath as if he ran a marathon. The girls and Rikki rushed over to Damien and circled around him, wondering if he'll be ok. "Damien?"

"Was it really that exhausting?" Weiss asked, sounding a little concerned, still having no clue how much energy a Faunus uses in battle, and with a weapon to harness dust to its fullest and his own semblance constantly activated at the same time.

"Weiss, he's put a lot of his strength into that final charge," Blake frowned, "Isn't electricity one of the hardest to not only control, but to harness at its fullest?"

"Ladies," Damien coughed, "I'll be ok. Just give me a second to collect my energy…"

Rikki smiled, "Same ol' Damien. Hard ass, but badass at the same time. Come on, let's round up the rest of our teams and head back."

"Growlo, I can do this," Damien walked in, seeing Growlo struggle with the first aid kit.

Growlo looked up and nodded, "Then I'll handle the armor. That's something I know I can do."

"Very well," the dragon Faunus smiled as the two shared a tagging motion on each other's shoulders when they crossed paths. When Growlo closed the door behind him, Damien looked over at Nikki, who also struggled with the first aid using only one arm. "Nikki, allow me to help you."

"Damien, I heard you nearly passed out after that dangerous kill. You should get your strength back up!" she pointed out, not really wanting him to help her, thanks to his own health.

"I'm fine. I promise you, ok?" he sat on the edge of her bed with a gentle smile, his azure gaze soft for once.

"What's…gotten into you?" she asked, instantly picking up on his odd behavior towards her.

He blinked and shook out the cobwebs in his noggin, "Sorry, I'm spacing out." He looked up, his eyes back to their strong gaze, "Let me see your arm." He removed his gauntlets, which is something he never does.

Without much thought on his sudden change in character, she obeyed his command and he gently took it, seeing the damage she obtained in the battle. Her arm was blotched with second degree burns, blisters and red skin aplenty. Some of the blisters did pop and oozed puss, most likely from fighting and using Hiryu when she was told to stay back. He hissed gently, "It's better than I thought actually. I expected third degree burns."

"It hurts though."

He nodded, grabbing cream from the kit, and very gingerly squeezed the cream onto the worst parts of the arm. "Nice and easy. Don't use this arm at all, ok? It needs to heal."

"Got it," she nodded, "Hey, wanna know a secret?"

He looked at her and asked, "What is it about?"

"It's about Growlo and Ruby~" she grinned evilly.

He blinked, "What happened between them?" He took a couple gauze pads from the kit and began to rip them out of the paper packages.

"Growlo saved her life from Hiryu and when everything was ok, she kissed him on the cheek."

Damien stopped and blinked, "Seriously?"

She nodded with a wide grin, "Yep! But it wasn't a loving kiss; it was a friendly one, like to say 'thanks for helping me out'."

"Ah, ok, so it was like this," Damien leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Her blue eyes bugged out of her sockets at Damien's sudden kiss. Sure, it was just an example and he didn't mean it affectionately, but it still made her heart skip. "Yep. Just like that," she stated when she found her voice again.

He nodded and returned to his duty. Taking the roll of linen, he very gently began to wrap her arm and gauze in place. "I promise to take a nap after this, ok? I know you worry about me. I know you like me."

"Well, yeah. You're a cool guy and a terrific fighter. And I truly don't care about you being a Faunus. You're bad ass the way you are."

His eyes looked up at her again, soft and sweet, making her uncomfortable for some reason. "Truthfully?"

"Y-Yeah…Damien, you're starting to act weird again. Snap out of it."

He chuckled, "Sorry. I guess I really am drained. I'm almost done." Taking a butterfly pin, he took the end of the wrapping and clipped it to one of the outer layers of the wrap. "There. Take it easy ok?"

"I will, I promise."

Damien smiled and gently ruffled her short, dark blue hair, "Good. Now that you'll excuse me…" with a yawn, he suddenly crashed on her bed, his body curled slightly in his sleep.

She blinked, "This is my…oh, fuck it." With a shrug, she stood up and tried to position his body to rest horizontally, his head on the pillow. Using her right arm the most, she grunted, "You're a little heavy, Spitfire," she quipped, using her dragon pet name for him, "It must be all muscle." Finally succeeding, she exhaled a little and placed her fur blanket on his snoozing body. Instantly, his body curled into it, a gentle purr emerged from his throat. Smiling, she gently stroked his hair, his spiky tail gently wagging involuntarily. "Get some sleep, leader. You deserve it." Touching her cheek, she blushed, "I'm happy about having you as a friend, Dam."

Rule of Love:

Kiss on the Cheek= Friendship

July 2014


End file.
